Nick – Page 3 – Thin Air

Super Bowl LVI Thread

2022 Broncos Offseason Road Map

Under the leadership of George Paton, the Broncos decided to go with major changes at coaching. Nathaniel Hackett now takes over at head coach, and will call offensive plays while extensively turning over staff on all three phases of the ball. Knowing the extent of these changes was needed in order to build a proper road map–and even then, there is still a small bit of uncertainty. This road map assumes that the Broncos will hire Ejiro Evero as defensive coordinator after the Super Bowl is over, and will retain much of the structure that the defense had under Vic Fangio.

This road map will also be shorter than most offseasons, as Paton has is already far ahead of schedule in resolving several major questions that were otherwise coming up as outstanding for 2022: Courtland Sutton and Tim Patrick were both extended, Von Miller was traded to the Rams before his contract expired, and Graham Glasgow took a significant pay cut very soon after the conclusion of the season.

But make no mistake: there is still plenty of work to do, and that is because the Broncos remain on a playoff drought that is completely unacceptable to the standards of the organization. It is imperative that the team does what is needed to immediately get back to playoff football, where anything can happen once a team is in that tournament.

Game Thread: Broncos at Chargers, 2021 Week 17

Broncos Playoff Standings: 2021 Week 17

Obviously, it’s very daunting. But since I missed one very narrow scenario in last week’s edition that ended up coming to fruition, let’s lay it out for the record.

Game Thread: Broncos at Raiders, 2021 Week 16

Broncos Playoff Standings: 2021 Week 16

Very little went the Broncos’ way last week: they of course lost, and most of the other games did not go their way, either. One of the few that did may have arguably been a narrow victory by the Raiders of all teams. But things are not doomed. Here is the remaining path to the playoffs available.

Game Thread: Bengals at Broncos, 2021 Week 15

Broncos Playoff Standings: 2021 Week 15

Week 14 went mostly well for the Broncos. They got an impressive win–and honored a fallen old friend well in the process–and while it got nailbiting in some cases, they got some help from other teams across the league.

And yet…they are still 10th in line for a seven team AFC playoff field. Most playoff odds sites peg them at only around 20%. But just as it was expected that this would not change over a loss to the Chiefs, it was also expected that this would not change much over a win to the Lions. Their fate, for better or worse, is far from determined.

Game Thread: Lions at Broncos, 2021 Week 14

Broncos Playoff Standings: 2021 Week 14

Well, hardly anything went the Broncos’ way last week. Obviously, Denver losing was not good, even if it was the game they were most likely to lose. But aggravating factors is that most (but thankfully, not all!) of their direct competitors for the playoffs also won. This tumbled the Broncos all the way down to 12th in AFC playoff rankings.

But do not give up all hope yet, the road to the playoffs is far from over. Let’s see what needs to happen next, and who to root for.